John Gill Commentary Matthew 21

And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem
The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "when he drew nigh, or was near"; but not alone, his disciples were with him, and a multitude of people also; as is evident from the following account. They might well be said to be near to Jerusalem, since it is added,

and were come to Bethphage ;
which the Jews say ^F14 was within the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and was in all respects as the city itself, and was the outermost part of it ^F15 ; and that all within the outward circumference of the city of Jerusalem was called Bethphage ^F16 : it seems to me to be part of it within the city, and part of it without, in the suburbs of it, which reached to Bethany, and that to the Mount of Olives.

Various are the derivations and etymologies of this place: some say it signifies "the house", or "place of a fountain", from a fountain that was in it; as if it was a compound of "Beth", an house, and (phgh) , "pege", a fountain: others, "the house of the mouth of a valley"; as if it was made up of those three words, (ayg yp tyb) , because the outward boundary of it was at the foot of the Mount of Olives, at the entrance of the valley of Jehoshaphat: others say, that the ancient reading was "Bethphage, the house of slaughter"; and Jerom says ^F17 , it was a village of the priests, and he renders it, "the house of jaw bones": here indeed they might bake the showbread, and eat the holy things, as in Jerusalem ^F18 ;

but the true reading and signification of it is, (ygap) (tyb) , "the house of figs"; so called from the fig trees which grew in the outward limits of it, near Bethany, and the Mount of Olives; hence we read of ^F19 (ynyh tyb ygp) , "the figs of Bethany"; which place is mentioned along with, Bethphage, both by Mark and Luke, where Christ, and those with him, were now come: the latter says, they were come nigh to these places, for they were come

to the Mount of Olives ;
near to which were the furthermost limits of Bethany, and Bethphage, from Jerusalem. This mount was so called from the abundance of olive trees which grew upon it, and was on the east side of Jerusalem ^F20 ; and it was distant from it a sabbath day's journey, (Acts 1:12) which was two, thousand cubits, or eight furlongs, and which made one mile:

then sent Jesus two disciples ;
who they were is not certain, perhaps Peter and John, who were afterwards sent by him to prepare the passover, (Luke 22:8) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Gloss. in T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 14. 2. & Pesach. fol. 91. 1.
• F15: Gloss. in T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 63. 2. & 91. 1.
• F16: Gloss. in T. Bab. Sota, fol. 45. 1. & Bava Metzia fol. 90. 1.
• F17: In loc. & ad Eustoch, fol. 59. 3. Tom. 1.
• F18: Misn. Menachot, c. 11. sect. 2. T. Bab. Menachot fol. 63. 1. & 78. 2. Maimon. Hilch. Pesul. Hamukdash, c. 12. sect. 16. Gloss. in Pesach. fol. 63. 2.
• F19: T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 53. 1. & Erubin, fol. 28. 2.
• F20: Zech. xiv 4. Targum in Ezek. xi. 23. & Bartenora in Misn. Mid. dot. c. 1. sect. 3.

Saying unto them, go into the village over against you
Munster's Hebrew Gospel reads, "before you"; not Jerusalem, as some has thought, for that would never be called a village; though the Ethiopic version reads it, "the city"; but rather Bethany, which was near to Bethphage, and is mentioned with it; though the Jews say ^F21 , the name of the village was Nob, and was near to Jerusalem, and own, that Christ had an ass from hence, on which he rode to Jerusalem, and applied to himself the prophecy in (Zechariah 9:9) .

And it is very likely this was the village; for Nob was very near to Jerusalem; it was over against it, within sight of it, and from which might be taken a view of the whole city, according to the Jews; who say ^F23 , that Sennacherib stood in Nob, a city of the priests, over against the walls of Jerusalem, and saw the whole city, and it was little in his eyes; and he said; is not this the city of Jerusalem

and straightway ,
or, as in Mark, "as soon as you be entered into it"; and in Luke, "at your entering", at the town's end, at one of the first houses in it, at the door thereof,

you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her .
The other evangelists only make mention of the colt, or young ass; but, no doubt, both were spoken of by Christ, and both were found by the disciples, the ass, and the colt by her, and both were brought away by them; and on both of them, very probably, Christ rode; first on one, and then on the other, as the prophecy hereby fulfilled seems to require, and as the sequel of the account shows.

The ancient allegorical sense of the ass and colt is not to be despised: that the ass may signify the Jews, who had been used to bear the burdensome rites and ceremonies of the law; and the colt, the wild and untamed Gentiles, and the coming of Christ, first to the one, and then to the other:

loose them, and bring them unto me ,
both ass and colt. So the Arabic version reads it, "loose both, and bring them, both to me".

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: Toldos Jesu, p. 9.
• F23: T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 95. 1. Targum, Jarchi, & Kimchi in Isa. x. 32.

And if any man say ought to you
As, what business have you with the ass and colt? why do you lose them? as certain persons, the owners of them, did, as Mark and Luke relate;

you shall say, the Lord has need of them :
he that is our Lord, and your Lord, and the Lord of these creatures, and of all things else, wants them for his present service;

and straightway he will send them :
which is either a continuation of what the disciples should say to any that should ask them the reason of their losing the ass and colt, in order to make them easy: that the Lord who had need of them, as soon as he had done with them, would send them back to their proper owners, safe and well: or they are spoken for the encouragement of the disciples to go, and not be disheartened, though they should be thus examined; for immediately upon saying, that the Lord stood in need of them, and had an use for them at that time, the owner thereof, without any more words, would immediately send them along with them; which latter rather seems to be the sense of the clause; and which is confirmed by Mark.

A very clear proof is this of the omniscience of Christ. He knew, that there was an ass, and a colt, in such a village, fastened to such a door, just at the entrance into the town: he knew the owners of it would examine the disciples about losing and taking them away, and prepares them to give an answer; and he knew that the minds of these owners would be immediately wrought upon, and inclined to let them go directly and quietly.

All this was done
The disciples were sent to the neighbouring village for the ass and colt, and they brought them, and Christ rode upon them; not because of the distance of the place from Jerusalem, for he was just at it; or because he was weary, or it would be very fatiguing to him to walk thither on foot; for he had been used to travelling, and had gone through most parts of Galilee and Judea; but

that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet :
the Ethiopic version adds, Isaiah; for the former part of the following citation stands in (Isaiah 62:11) as the latter does in (Zechariah 9:9) . It was usual with the Jews to cite Scripture in this manner, by taking a part from one writer, and another from anther, and joining them together: saying, the following words.

Tell you the daughter of Zion
These words seem to be taken out of (Isaiah 62:11) where it is said, "say you to the daughter of Zion, behold your salvation comes", or "your Saviour comes"; meaning, without doubt, the Messiah: by the daughter of Zion is meant, not the city of Jerusalem, but the inhabitants thereof, the Jewish synagogue; or as the Targum renders it, (Nwyud atvynk) , "the congregation of Zion", the people of the Jews; particularly the elect of God among them, those that embraced the true Messiah, and believed in him.

behold, your king comes unto you :
this, and what follow, are cited from (Zechariah 9:9) and to be understood of the king Messiah, who, in a little time after this prophecy was given out, was to come to Zion, and redeem Jacob from all his iniquities, and had now come. One of the Jewish commentators says ^F24 , that interpreters are divided about the sense of this prophecy; but observes, that there are some that say this is the Messiah: and another ^F25 of them affirms, that it is impossible to explain it of any other than the king Messiah; and that it can be understood of no other, I have elsewhere ^F26 shown.

"Meek"; in the prophecy of Zechariah it is, (yne) , "poor", as the Messiah Jesus was, in a temporal sense; but the word, both by the Septuagint, and our evangelist, is rendered

meek ;
as it is by the Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, who all explain it by (Ntwne) , "lowly, humble, or meek": and a character it is, that well agrees with Jesus, who, in the whole of his deportment, both in life and in death, was a pattern of meekness and lowliness of mind: and

sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass .
This is applied to the Messiah by the Jews, both ancient ^F1 and modern ^F22 , who consider this as an instance and evidence of his humility: they suppose, this ass to be a very uncommon one, having an hundred spots on it; and say, that it was the foal of that which was created on the eve of the sabbath ^F23 ; and is the same that Abraham and Moses rode upon:

and they own, as before observed, that Jesus of Nazareth rode on one to Jerusalem, as is here related. Their ancient governors, patriarchs, princes, and judges, used to ride on asses, before the introduction and multiplication of horses in Solomon's time, forbidden by the law of God: wherefore, though this might seem mean and despicable at this present time, yet was suitable enough to Christ's character as a king, and as the son of David, and king of Israel. He was strictly observing the law given to the kings of Israel, and riding in such manner as they formerly did.

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: Aben Ezra in Zech. ix. 9.
• F25: Jarchi in ib.
• F26: Prophecies of the Messiah literally fulfilled in Jesus, c. 9. p. 151
• F1: T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 98. 1. & 99. 1. Bereshit Rabba, fol. 66. 2. & 85. 3. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2. Zohar in Gen. fol. 127. 3. & in Num. fol. 83. 4. & in Deut. fol. 117. 1. & 118. 3. Raya Mehimna in Zohar. in Lev. fol. 38. 3. & in Num. fol. 97. 2.
• F22: Jarchi in Isa. xxvi 6. Baal Hatturim in Exod. fol. 88. 2. Abarbimel, Mashmia Jeshua, fol. 15. 4.
• F23: Pirke Eliezer, c. 31. Caphtor, fol. 81. 2.